Numb3rs Meets Supernatural
by pyps
Summary: What happens when Charlie and Alan are kidnapped by demons while on a road trip? Dean and Sam to the rescue! Mostly revolves around Supernatural, hence the reason it's in this particular category.
1. Chapter 1

**Numb3rs Meets Supernatural…**

(For lack of a better title…)

_Authors Note:_

_So I know it seems really random and everything, but I've been on a Supernatural/Numb3rs kick the past little while and this is to be the outcome of it. Hope you all enjoy it! _

**Chapter One**

Don stared out the plane window watching the clouds go by. A week ago he wouldn't have expected to be on a plane to St Louis so as to take a rental car from the airport to some small town out on the middle of nowhere. He wouldn't have expected to receive the call he had a few days ago and he definitely had NOT expected the information Sheriff Williams of Emerson had relayed to him.

He looked at the sleeping woman next to him. She'd just turned twenty-one not too long ago but she still had the facial features of a teenage girl. He remembered very well the day she had knocked on Alan Eppes door.

_Three Months Earlier…_

Charlie and Don had just finished clearing the table when there was a knock on the front door.

"I'll get it!" Alan replied getting up from his chair in the living room. He walked over and opened the door. What he found was a young woman standing on the porch completely soaked by the pouring rain with a luggage bag sitting beside her.

"Mr. Eppes?" she asked.

"I'm Alan Eppes, yes," Alan said staring at her curiously.

She let out her breath and held out her hand. "Carolee Summers," she said. At Alan's continued confusion she added, "Ted Summers' daughter."

Realization came to Alan and his face broke into a smile. "Carolee!" he exclaimed and took her into a warm embrace. Carolee was a little surprised at first but then she just laughed.

"Did you just get in?" Alan asked releasing the red-head.

"Yeah I did," she said. "My dad gave me your address just before I left and I've been trying to find your house for the past hour."

"Come on in," he said picking up her bag and guiding her through the door. "You didn't take a cab?" he asked as he set down the luggage and closed the door.

"I thought walking around L.A. looking for your house wouldn't be too bad because the weather was really nice when I got here and then it started to pour and I just didn't think to call a cab after that."

"Well I'm glad you were able to find us." Alan looked up and saw the curious looks his two sons were wearing. "Oh I'm sorry," he said pointing to them. Carolee turned and smiled at them. "Carolee these are my two sons; Don." Don shook Carolee's hand. "And Charlie." Charlie mimicked his brother.

"Carolee is Ted's daughter," Alan told his two befuddled sons.

"Oh," Don said as he remembered. "The two of you went to school together right?"

"Yep. He has a daughter about your age Don and a son about Charlie's age and then Carolee is the baby."

"Yeah that's right," Charlie said. "He and his family would come over a lot for barbeques and stuff."

"Mm hmm, and we'd try to get you kids to play together but Don would always torment poor Gail as little boys do and then Nick was always clinging to his mother."

"I remember that," Charlie said laughing at the image of Don tying Gail's braids into a knot. He turned to Carolee. "The last time I saw you was just before I left to Princeton wasn't it?"

"No, I didn't come with my parents on that trip," Carolee corrected. "I was here for your tenth birthday though."

"Wow, you've really grown up."

"My twenty-first is in a couple of weeks."

"Wow, the big twenty-one," Don said. Carolee nodded.

"Sorry you guys," Alan said. "I forgot to tell you that she was coming out for a visit. She'll be staying here if that's alright with you Charlie."

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Great." Alan picked up Carolee's bag once again. "I'll show you to your room Miss. Summers so that you can change into drier clothes."

"Thanks," Carolee said. She went up a few of the steps and then turned back to Don and Charlie. "It's nice to see you guys again."

_Present Day…_

"Ladies and Gentleman," the flight attendant said over the PA. "We will now be landing in St. Louis. Please be sure not to forget your bags as you leave the plane."

Don placed a hand on Carolee's shoulder and gently shook her. "Hey," he said. She stirred and he tried again. "Sleeping Beauty, we're in St. Louis."

Carolee's eyes opened and she looked around. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked at Don. He was smiling.

"What?" she asked.

Don shook his head. "Nothing." Carolee's arrival in LA had changed from "visit" to "live with" when the Eppes had discovered that Carolee was having trouble at home and ever since then Don had viewed the independent red-head as his sister. The way she acted she could've almost passed as an Eppes and Don wondered if perhaps she'd been born into the wrong family.

"Don't forget your bag," Don told her. Carolee nodded and pulled her bag onto her shoulder just as the plane hit the ground and began to slow down.

They got off of the plan and looked around for a place where they could arrange for a rental car. When the car arrived at the gate they took the keys, put their bags in the back and headed towards the nearest hotel.

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Dean's eyes flew open. They were still a good twenty minutes away from Emerson and falling asleep while driving was the last thing he needed. It would have helped to have someone to talk to but Sam was of course asleep.

"Just half an hour," Dean said to himself. "Long enough to get to the stupid town, find a motel, check in and then hit the sack." He let out a yawn. "Let's just hope I make it that long."

Lady Luck must have been smiling down on the Winchester brothers that night because just as the black Impala pulled into the town Dean spotted the motel. He parked in front of the main office and then, after making sure Sam was still asleep, he went inside.

"Hi," Dean said to the manager with a smile.

The balding man looked up at him and gave a nod. "Hello," he said.

"Do you happen to have any open rooms?" Dean asked leaning against the desk.

"They're all open," the man said in an agitated tone.

_Yeesh,_ Dean thought to himself. _Just because business is bad for you that doesn't mean you have to bite my head off._ "Which of your rooms have two beds?" he asked.

"They _all_ do," he said. "Just pick one and I'll give you the key."

"Pick a number?"

"A _room_! That _is_ what you're looking for isn't it? The doors are all unlocked so go pick your room and I'll give you the key!"

Dean left the room quickly. He didn't want to piss the manager off any more than he already had. Upon inspecting the rooms he found that all but one of them carried a very stale smell to them. The last room (located on the second floor opposite where the office was) seemed to have only just recently been vacated. It was cleaner than the others indicating that the last people to stay there were either very clean or they got here before the motel's business began to decline.

Dean went to the office and told the manager what room he wanted.

"There," the man said tossing him the key and then he turned back to the paperwork on his desk. "You'll pay when you leave."

"Thank you very much," Dean replied hoping that perhaps the guy would lighten up but his gratitude was ignored. He left the office and walked over to the car.

"Hey Sammy," Dean said about to tap on the window but stopping when he realized that Sam wasn't there. He opened the door to make sure that it wasn't just the lighting playing a trick on him but the Impala was empty. He slammed the door and looked around. "Sammy!" he called. No answer. "SAMMY!"

Dean ran over to the road and called for his brother again. "SAMMY!"

He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see his little brother walking towards him. Dean let out his breath in frustration. "Don't run off like that!" he said angrily. "You freak me out when you do!"

"I'm sorry," Sam said growing slightly agitated by his brother's protectiveness. Ever since Dean had sold his soul it was as if his paranoia had increased and it was driving Sam crazy. "I went into the office and the manager told me you were looking at rooms. I was going to just wait for you in the car but I could've sworn I saw this ride by on a bike. I went to go and check it out."

"I take it you didn't find anything?"

"Nothing."

"You're probably just really tired."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Luckily for you I just got us the best room there is. The other rooms look as if they haven't been lived in for months, maybe a year. This one's at least been used recently."

"Well, let's hit the sack then."

They moved the car closer to their room and then they began hauling their stuff up the stairs. Dean retrieved the last bag, closed the trunk and turned to go up the stairs but a young girl about ten or so was standing in his way. Dean jumped, dropping the bag on the ground. The girl was holding up a pink bicycle with sparkly ribbons spewing out of the handles. She had jet black hair that was worn in two pig tails and her outfit consisted of jean overall shorts and a black and white striped shirt. She had skin that was pale as paper and her eyes were a dark empty blue.

Dean's heart began to race. This must have been the kid Sam saw. As he continued to stare into those empty, bottomless eyes a strange feeling came over him. He began to feel as though he were falling into a black abyss that he couldn't pull himself out of, and as he fell all of the memories of past pains came flooding back to him.

"Hey Dean, what's taking you so long?"

The darkness disappeared and Dean found himself on his knees gasping for air. He looked around and the little girl was gone. He stood up, his legs shaking, and leaned against the car.

Sam came out of the room and looked down. Upon seeing that something wasn't right he hurried down the stairs to his brother.

"Are you ok?" he asked urgently.

Dean was about to tell him what happened, he wanted to tell him, but instead he simply said," Yeah, I'm just really tired."

Sam could tell he was lying, but he didn't wish to press the matter. "Alright," he said. He picked up the bag his brother dropped and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's get you into a bed then."

They climbed the stairs, entered their room, and closed the door behind them.

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The room had an odd stench to it. The wood floor was rotting away as were the walls. There were no windows and the room was so dark that you couldn't see your hand if it was right in front of your face. Charlie had never been kidnapped before, but it was not beyond his imagination to dream of it and be haunted by the nightmares of what it would mean.

He touched the back of his hand to his mouth wiping away the small stream of blood coming from it. He swallowed hard, wishing he knew whether or not his dad were in the room with him. At least he wouldn't be alone. But after the strange occurrence at the motel in Emerson the two men had been separated.

Charlie leaned back against the wall as a few tears slid silently down his cheek. He had no idea what was happening. He didn't know why they had taken him and his dad. He didn't know anything. All he had was the eerie feeling that if someone did not rescue them soon, he and his father would never be found alive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Carolee yawned as she stared out the window. She and Don had landed in St. Louis at five o'clock that morning. It was six in the morning by the time they were finally able to get some sleep and neither one of them had awoken until two that afternoon. After getting a bite to eat they packed up their bags once more, checked out of the hotel, and were out on the road by four.

Carolee looked at Don. His eyes were watching the road out in front of him. It was the most concentration she'd ever seen him us while driving. She knew that he was thinking about Charlie and Alan. She could also see that he was trying his hardest not to show the worry he was feeling. She completely understood that. There were countless times when she'd been in similar situations and the last thing she wanted was for the people around her to know of her worries. Sometimes it helped people to see someone keeping their cool in situations like this. Then again, there were some people that got annoyed with it as well.

"Emerson; twenty miles," Don said as they passed a road sign.

"It's about time," Carolee said. "I don't remember the drive to Emerson ever being this long."

"You've been to Emerson?"

"Once or twice, but that was years ago."

"What's it like there?"

"Well, it's a really small town. There's only one motel, and that's right at the south edge of the town. There's a diner, barbershop and grocery store, a school, a church or two, but that's it really aside from a few houses. Most of this land is used for farming, or cattle ranching."

"So what's the crime rate like?"

She knew he was going to ask that.

"When I was last there the most they had were the occasional idiot teenagers stealing candy or cigarettes from the store. There was a fight once, but as far as I know that's all. It's a really nice town." That was the biggest reason why Carolee had a feeling that there was more to this kidnapping than your average everyday give-me-money-and-you'll-get-your-kid-back abduction.

"Things must have changed since you were last there then," Don said with a hint of bitterness.

"I guess so," Carolee said quietly. She commenced staring out the window and neither of them said a word until they saw the large motel sign. They pulled into the parking lot in front of the office and climbed out of the car. Carolee looked around as she did and her gaze fell upon the only other car in the lot; a black Impala.

Carolee's stomach churned and her heart began to race. Her feet seemed rooted to the spot. She willed them to move but her mind couldn't draw her attention from that car.

Don was about to enter the office when he realized Carolee wasn't' with him. He turned and saw her staring at a car across the way. He walked over and stood next to her.

"Carolee?" he said. He looked between her and the car before adding, "Are you OK; you look like you've seen a ghost."

Carolee came back to reality and looked at him. "Sorry," she said. She smiled. "Just reminiscing."

Don raised an eyebrow at her but didn't inquire further. The two of them walked into the office.

"Can we get two rooms?" Don asked.

"It'd be cheaper to get one room with two beds Don," Carolee told him.

"I'd feel better getting two rooms."

Carolee rolled her eyes. It took forever to convince him to get a two bed hotel room in St. Louis and the entire time he acted as though Carolee were diseased and he kept his distance from her. She knew it was the awkwardness of sharing the room, but she was still aggravated by the whole thing.

"Two rooms," Don said pulling out his wallet.

"Pick your rooms they're all unlocked. I'll give you your keys once you've done that and you'll pay when you leave," the manager said not looking at them.

Don and Carolee looked at each other. Never had either of them met any kind of manager that was that apathetic about his customers. They left the office and began their hunt for rooms. None of them were really great.

"Your pick," Don said. "All of the vacant ones are crap and personally I didn't find anything different about them."

Carolee rolled her eyes at him. "Let's go for the two closest to the office," she said.

"Fine." They got the keys for their rooms and then went into their respected rooms.

Five minutes after Carolee was done unpacking there was a knock on her door. She got up and answered it.

"Do you want to do some looking around really quick before it gets too late?" Don asked the moment she opened the door.

Carolee looked at her watch. Eight o'clock. "Sure," she said. She grabbed her jacket and then went out.

"I'm going to talk to the manager really quick," Don said.

"I'll just wait out here," Carolee told him. Don entered the office and Carolee looked around. Once again her gaze fell upon that black Impala.

There was the sound of a door opening somewhere above and she looked up as a man in his late twenties exited the only room that had been taken. Carolee's heart stopped. He leaned against the railing staring out into the sky. His eyes wandered and his gaze fell upon her. She could see the surprise on his face.

"Alright," Don said as he came out. "Ready to go now."

Carolee looked at him. "Ok," she said. They walked to the car and Don climbed into the driver's seat. Before Carolee did the same she looked back at that handsome figure standing above.

The ignition started and Carolee turned her attention back to the task at hand. She climbed into the car and then they drove off.

Dean stared off after the silver Taurus as it drove towards the center of town. His attention was so set upon it that he didn't hear the door to his room open and his brother walk up and stand beside him.

"What are you looking at?" he asked staring off in the same direction as his brother.

Dean didn't answer right away, but after a few minutes he said, "Nothing," and went back into the room. Sam, confused, stood there a moment, and then followed his brother.

* * *

Alan Eppes shaded his eyes as the door opened. He'd been in there for who knew how long and the only time his captors opened the door was when they would take him out and into an adjoining room. There they would have him sit and watch as they did strange cult-like rituals. They had actually on one occasion cut him on his forearm and made him bleed a little into their ritual bowl. He'd been forced to rip off the sleeve of his plait shirt and use it as a means for stopping the bleeding. Now they had opened the door once more and he prayed it was for a separate reason than in the past.

A man was pushed into the room and then the door was shut. The darkened room was silent and then the man spoke.

"Is there anyone in here?" he asked.

From the sound of his voice Alan guessed he was in his mid forties. "Yeah," he replied. "I'm Alan Eppes."

"Roger Blake."

"How long have you been here Roger?"

"Just got here. You been here long?"

"I guess so; they took any means of telling the time away from me so I've no idea just how long I've been here. It sure feels like weeks though."

The room was silent again.

"Do you know why they have us?" Roger asked his voice trembling slightly.

"No idea; I'm just a guy who was passing through Emerson."

"Emerson? I'm from Emerson; born and raised there."

"Really? What do you do?"

"I'm a barber; I work with my two sons."

"How old are they?"

"Twenty one and sixteen. I have a daughter who's nineteen and one who is ten."

"I have two sons as well. One's a mathematician and the other is an FBI agent."

"Do you think they'll try and find you?"

"Charlie, that's my son who's the mathematician, was with me when they took me. As far as I know they took him as well. Don, he'll stop at nothing until he finds us dead or alive."

"My boys are like that too." Alan could hear his voice cracking. "They'll stop at nothing."

"Well that puts three people on our side then doesn't it. The odds are better than none."

Roger gave a small strained chuckle. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Alan waited a moment and then said, "I wish you hadn't been taken too, but I'm glad that there's someone here with me."

"I'm glad too," Roger said quietly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The search in the town produced nothing for the two individuals. By ten o'clock all of the stores were either closed or closing, and so Don and Carolee went back to the motel.

"That was rather pointless," Don said as they climbed out of the car.

"We'll talk to the Sheriff tomorrow," Carolee said shutting her door. She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry; we'll find them."

Don sighed. "Goodnight Carolee," he told her and then went into his room.

Carolee leaned against the car and hung her head. She had come to be a member of the Eppes family the past few months and it panged her greatly to see Don hurting and not knowing what to do about it.

She once again looked up at the place where she'd seen him, there leaning against the railing. She jumped a little when she saw that he was there again, staring right at her. This time however his expression was not that of surprise and disbelief. His eyebrows were knit together as though he were trying to contemplate all of the possible reasons for her being there. She turned and faced him. Her mouth opened but as soon as it did her nerve ran away and it closed again. She hurried into her room shutting the door behind her.

Dean continued staring at the door she had gone in. Once again Sam came out to check on him.

"Dude," he said. "You've been standing out here the past half an hour."

Dean didn't answer.

"Come on, I've got some information for you."

Dean hesitantly at first followed his brother into the room.

"So," Sam said sitting on his bed with his laptop. "I've been doing some research about this town and so far there's really nothing out of the ordinary. Started just like any other town, no history of paganism or anything. It's like these disappearances are completely random."

"Does this town have online access to news articles?" Don asked looking over his brother's shoulder.

"No, but we can go to the library and check it out tomorrow if you'd like."

"Let's do that. Did you find anything else?"

"Nothing."

Dean sat down on his own bed and ran his hand down his face. Sam could see he was exhausted; he hadn't slept at all the night before.

"Let's get to bed," Sam said closing his laptop and shoving it back into his bag.

"You go ahead Sammy," Dean said. "I think I'm going to take a walk."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'll just walk around here. I promise not to leave the motel."

He stood up and was at the door when Sam spoke.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine Sammy, alright?!" he exclaimed. Sam was taken aback and didn't say anything further. Dean sighed. "Just…get some sleep." He opened the door and left.

The night air was cool and the sky was clear. Dean however had too much on his mind to really enjoy it. He leaned against the rail once more looking at the door across the way and below him. He made up his mind and descended the stairs.

Upon reaching the room he listened to be sure she was still awake. He could hear her moving around and so, before he lost all his nerve, he knocked on the door.

There was the sound of footsteps and then the door opened. The beautiful redhead stood there staring at him in complete surprise. She was wearing a tight white t-shirt and light blue pajama pants with flip flops on her feet. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her green eyes seemed to draw him in.

"Hey Carolee," he said.

When she had her breath back she replied, "Hello Dean."

They stood there staring at each other in silence for a moment and then Dean spoke again.

"It's been a long time," he said.

"Five years," she told him.

Again the silence returned.

Finally Dean asked the question that had been burning in his mind. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"I'm looking for someone," she said. "Some friends."

"I didn't know you had friends here."

"Not here, necessarily. My friends were driving through and they stopped here to get their car fixed. A few days ago they disappeared."

Carolee watched as Dean's body tensed and she knew that her fears had been confirmed. "It's not just an average every day kidnapping is it Dean?" she asked but Dean didn't say anything. She didn't want to bother with it anymore. "Goodnight Dean," she said. Before she closed the door Dean stopped her.

"Wait," he said. They locked eyes for a minute or two and then he said, "I hope you find them." He turned and went back to his own room. Carolee watched after him and then closed the door.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Alan asked Roger. 

Roger clasped his side. The pain from the abuse he'd just received indicated that he'd broken a rib, maybe two. "I'm fine," he told him.

Alan felt his way in the dark and found his new friend.

"Anything broken?" he asked.

"I think a rib or two, but nothing more."

Alan leaned against the wall beside Roger.

"What's your youngest son like?" Roger asked.

"Really smart; sometimes I think he's too smart for his own good. He cares a lot about other people but he tends to miss some of the important things entirely."

Roger laughed a little. "My youngest boy is like that." He paused and then asked, "What does Charlie look like?"

Alan looked at him, or at least he thought he was looking at him since he couldn't see. "He's a sturdy boy, dark curly hair, about five nine," he said. "Why do you ask?"

Roger didn't say anything at first. After a moment he finally said, "I saw him while I was out there."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

At eight o'clock the next day Don and Carolee made their way to the Sheriff's station. They parked next to the squad car and then went in.

"Is Sheriff Williams here?" Don asked the deputy at the desk.

"He's back in his office," the deputy said. "Feel free to go in."

"Thanks."

Don and Carolee followed the hallway to the small office in the back. The door was closed and so Don knocked.

"Come in," Sheriff Williams said.

Don opened the door and he and Carolee walked in.

"Hello Sheriff Williams," Don said. "I'm…"

"Don Eppes," Williams said standing up. He walked over and shook Don's hand. "I had the pleasure of meeting your father and brother when they first arrived; you look just like them."

"Thank you."

Sheriff Williams turned to Carolee. He had impenetrable blue eyes that locked with hers. "Who is this lovely lady?" he asked with a smile.

"This is Carolee Summers; she's a family friend."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Carolee said holding out her hand.

"The pleasure's all mine," Williams said shaking her hand. He was fairly young; this was probably his first job as a law enforcement officer, maybe his second. His smile was a brilliant white that made Carolee blush slightly.

"We've come to ask you about my father and brother."

"Yes, I assumed as much. Please have a seat."

Carolee and Don sat down in front of the Sheriff's desk.

"We retrieved all that was left in their motel room," Williams said. "It's in the back if you wish to take it."

"Do you have any idea who did it?" Don asked.

"None whatsoever. We've had a stream of kidnappings these past months. We've exercised all of our resources a hundred times over. When word of even the smallest connection comes in we jump on it immediately, but being in the law enforcement yourself I'm sure you know how effective the majority of those tips are."

Don nodded. Carolee decided to step in. "What can you tell us about that night?" she asked.

"The only real witness we have is the motel manager, but he was in his office at the time of the kidnapping. He heard the sounds of a struggle in their room but by the time he got out the door the kidnappers had already peeled out of the parking lot. He went up to their room and they were gone. He called us down and that's all that we know."

Don interlocked his fingers a moment and then spoke, "Is there a way we can help?"

"Like I said right now all we've been able to go on are tips. But, if you'd like as soon as we get another tip in I'll let you know."

"Thank you Sheriff Williams," Don said standing up.

Carolee followed suit as did Sheriff Williams.

"I'll have Deputy Harris take those things over to your motel. Which room are you staying in?"

"Number 2," Don said before Carolee could speak up.

"You'll have it later this afternoon once we've filled out all of the necessary paperwork."

"Again, thank you."

With that all said and done Carolee and Don left the station.

They drove to the motel in silence. When Don had parked the car Carolee opened her door but stopped when Don said, "Who came to see you last night?"

Carolee's back was to him slightly. Why was she so tense? It's not like talking to Dean was a crime. He's just an old friend. She turned and looked at Don. "A friend," she said simply.

"Someone from around here?" Don asked.

"No; he's staying in the only other taken room."

They were quiet again.

"How do you know him?" he asked.

"I met him about five and a half years ago. I had run away from home. Well, sort of; my dad and I got into a fight and he told me to leave."

"When you were sixteen?"

"Two months 'til actually. Dad can be a pretty stubborn guy. Anyways, Dean, the friend I was talking to last night, he was a floater I guess you could say. I walked a good distance out of my hometown and then hitched a ride with him."

"So how long were you with him?"

"Six months; my sister called and told me that my mom was sick and that she had a very short time left. So I went back home."

"I see."

The awkward silence came again.

"How old is he?"

Carolee gave him a look. "Twenty eight," she said.

"Hmm."

Carolee rolled her eyes. "For your information nothing happened between us," she said hotly. Not wanting to discuss it further she got out of the car and went to her room, slamming the door behind her. She fell onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She was infuriated that Don had meddled in her affairs. What business was it of his who Dean was, how old he was, or anything else? Carolee became so upset over it that she couldn't sit there much longer. She got off the bed and left her room.

She stood outside her room a moment. She wanted to get away but she didn't know where to go. When she'd made up her mind the door to Dean's room opened.

"Look Sammy," Dean said. "I'm not sitting around anymore. I'm tired and I want something to eat so, whether or not you want to eat the diner food, I'm going and there's no way I'm leaving you here alone. Especially with all that's been going on in this town."

"Dean if you want to go and get food that's fine by me," Sam said as they went down the stairs. "I can stay here at the motel. You don't have to drag me everywhere you go I'm not a freakin' kid Dean." Dean had stopped in his tracks and Sam just stared at him. "What?" He followed his brother's gaze and saw that he was staring at a redheaded girl in blue jeans and a black shirt, half of her hair up while the other half fell past her shoulders.

Dean and the girl took a few steps towards each other and then another motel door opened. Don was on his way to knock on Carolee's door and apologize for snooping in her business but then he saw her standing about five feet from a man in his late twenties with short spiked brunette hair. Behind him was another man, mid twenties Don guessed, with the same color of hair only he wore it in a shag.

Don walked over and stood beside Carolee.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

Neither Dean nor Carolee said a word.

"Yo, Dean," Sam said.

"Dean?" Don said. At that Dean turned his gaze from Carolee and looked at Don. Carolee turned around and faced her friend.

"Yes," she said. "Don Eppes this is Dean Winchester. Dean Winchester this is Don Eppes."

Don held out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you," he said.

Dean shook his hand. "Same to you," he said. He turned to Sam. "This is my little brother Sam. Same this is Carolee Summers."

Sam stepped forward and shook Carolee's hand.

"It's nice to meet you Sam," Carolee said. "Your brother's told me a lot about you."

"That's funny," Sam said passing his brother a sidelong glance. "He's never mentioned you."

"So," Dean said changing the subject. "Are you and Don dating?"

"No," Carolee said immediately. "And it's not going to happen either."

"Oh why not?" Dean said with a hint of satire in his voice. "You two must know each other really well to come out on a road trip together."

"For your information _Mr. Winchester_," Carolee said getting right into Dean's face. "The friends I told you that I was looking for are Don's father and younger brother."

Something passed over Dean's face, and it was so fleeting that only Carolee saw it. It was pain, regret, sadness. Carolee backed down slightly. She knew how much Dean cared about his little brother and how much he missed his father. But maybe knowing that there was another person who cared deeply about their father and brother would be enough to change things.

"Come on Sammy," Dean said. "Let's get going." Without a word to either Don or Carolee Dean walked to the Impala and got in. Sam looked back at them.

"I guess we're heading out," he said. "It was nice meeting you Don, Carolee; we'll be seeing you around I guess."

"Yeah," Carolee said. "It was nice to finally meet you Sam." She waited a moment and then added, "Take care of your brother."

"I will," he said giving her a small smile and then he got into the car and the Winchester brothers drove off towards the diner.

"So that's Dean," Don said.

"Yeah," Carolee said. She felt a burning in the back of her eyes and her throat caught. She turned and hurried back into her room. Don followed after her but before he knocked on the door he heard the young woman on the other side sobbing. He thought better of it and returned to his own room.

* * *

After eating Dean and Sam headed for the library. They walked up to the librarian's desk and Dean cleared his throat. The woman, about twenty five they guessed, looked at them and smiled.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"We were wondering if perhaps you could let us look at the newspapers from the past ten years," Dean said.

"I think I can do that for you."

Sam rolled his eyes. _Here we go with the flirting_, he thought to himself.

"I think we'd appreciate it very much," Dean said with a sly smile.

The librarian returned the smile with a flirtatious one of her own. She led them to at table at the back of the library. "Have a seat here," she said. "I'll get those papers for you."

"Thank you very much," Dean said. AS the librarian turned and left Dean watched after her smiling in that way he always did. He turned to Sam and his smile faded. "What?" he asked.

"Dean," Sam said leaning forward. "Can't you ever go somewhere without trying to catch a night with a girl?"

"What girl? The librarian? Come on Sammy she probably isn't all that interested."

Sam gave Dean a disbelieving look. "You're kidding right?" he said.

Just then the librarian walked over with a push cart full of newspapers. "Here you boys are," she said with that flirty smile. And then to Dean she said, "I'm Kristy by the way."

"Dean," he said. The two shook hands.

"Well, if you need anything I'll just be at the desk." She walked a few tables away from them, turned and caught Dean's attention. She winked and then continued walking to her desk.

"Dean," Sam said calling his brother back to reality. "We've got work to do."

Dean looked back at Sam. "What? Oh, right," he said. They picked up the nearest newspaper and began reading; nothing out of the ordinary aside from the recent kidnappings.

"I'm going to start from the oldest and work up to present," Sam said. "You start with the present and work your way back."

"Fine by me," Dean said as he continued to scan the papers.

They poured over the papers for three hours with nothing that turned up. The librarian came back over to them.

"The library is closing in half an hour," she said.

"Thanks," Sam said before Dean could speak up. Kristy looked to Dean to see if he'd say anything, but he was too much into whatever article he was reading. She turned on her heel and walked back to the desk.

"What've you got there?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," Dean said. He set the paper down and moved on to the next one. Sam memorized the date on the paper and then continued to read. He was nearing the end of the paper when a story caught his attention.

**Attempted Lynching of Drunk Driver**

By Hanna Ester

In May of this year Jack Emeralds was taken into

custody after causing an accident just south of the

Jenson farm killing a young girl. He was tried and

found guilty but was sentenced only to three months

in prison and a year of probation.

Last night a group of seven men made their way

to Emeralds' home, dragged him out of bed, and

placed a noose around his neck. They taunted him,

threw objects at him, and abused him in other ways

that Emeralds chose not to discuss with reporters.

When their torture was complete the assailants

threw the end of the rope over the branch of a nearby

tree. Three men took hold of the rope prepared to pull.

Emeralds tried to free himself of the noose but his

would be murderers simply laughed at his vain

attempts.

The perpetrators had begun to pull on the rope when

Sheriff Tucker arrived having been called by Emeralds'

mother. The men fled the scene and Deputy Williams

pursued them. However, they were not caught.

The men wore ski masks and Emeralds did not recog-

nize any of their voices. The Sheriff is asking for any

information that you may have concerning this

terrible event. Should you know anything, please call

the tips hotline at 1-800-555-3737.

"Find something interesting?" Dean asked.

"Maybe," Sam replied. He showed the article to Dean. "It happened seven years ago. I'm going to check and see if there are any follow up stories."

Sam browsed through the papers and found what he was looking for. He read the article which had been written three months after the original. It said that through tips given to the Sheriff's office they were able to track down five of the men involved. They refused to give up the names of the remaining two men who had actually been the masterminds of the entire thing.

"I've got it," Sam said. He explained what the article said. "According to the five men they caught they felt they were serving justice by trying to kill him."

"Who were these guys?" Dean asked.

"Um…Harry Jenson, Carl Granger, Tanner Bennion, Fred Nicks, and Joel Harvester."

"Wait, what was that fourth one?"

"Fred Nicks?"

Dean rummaged through a few of the papers and then found what he was looking for. "This is from two years ago when the first set of disappearances happened. He was the first to go."

Sam's heart began to race as it always did when he could tell that he and Dean were on to something. "How many people disappeared the first time?" he asked.

Dean went through and counted. Chills ran up his spine. "Five," he said.

The brothers looked at each other. That had to be it. "I'll bet those other four were the men that helped with the lynching."

"Yeah and I'll bet that if we find this Jack Emeralds kid we'll find out he's connected to it all," Dean said. "He's probably the one responsible for it."

"But why the second string of disappearances? I mean, I can see why he did the first ones, but these ones? I'm not seeing a connection between them."

"We'll just have to keep digging then."

Kristy came back to their table.

"The library is closed," she said.

"Alright," Dean said. "Would it be possible to check out a few of these newspapers?"

"No, but I can run off copies of them. Which would you like?"

Dean gathered up the various papers and handed them to her.

"Do you want the entire paper copied or just a few articles?"

"All of it," Dean said. "Where are your restrooms?"

Kristy pointed towards the back of the library. Dean thanked her and then made his way towards them. She turned to go and make the copies when Sam stopped her. He picked up the paper that Dean had discarded.

"Can you make a copy of this one as well?" he asked.

"The entire paper?"

"Yeah."

She smiled at him flirtatiously. "Sure," she said.

Sam felt his face go hot as she walked away. He'd had plenty of girls try to flirt up a storm with him and in the past it never really did much. Yeah, there were on occasions those girls who'd say something that would make him feel a bit uncomfortable, but they'd never really made him blush before.After ten or fifteen minutes Dean finally returned. He and Sam sat at their table until Kristy showed up. They paid her for the copies and started to leave when she caught Dean's arm. He turned and looked at her.

"Would you like to get something to eat?" she asked.

What a perfect question to ask. Dean was _always_ hungry, and so naturally he agreed.

"You can come too if you'd like," Kristy said to Sam.

"That's alright." He wasn't in the mood to watch his brother flirt up a storm with this or any girl. Mot to mention he wanted to do some research. "I'll just walk back to the motel."

"Are you sure?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, but thanks anyway."

Same picked up the large stack of papers.

"Hey Sammy," Dean said reaching into his pocket. Sam turned and Dean handed him the keys to the Impala. "Be careful," he cautioned.

Sam simply smiled and then left the library.

James Harris was the Deputy of Emerson. He'd lived there his entire life. He graduated from high school with a 4.0 and was named valedictorian of his graduating class. He attended church every Sunday, went to every church social and he had a clean law enforcement record. He was a model citizen.

But this angel was merely a wolf in sheep's clothing.

He stood shoulder to shoulder with the others as they circled the man. Each of the Members there wore their blood red robes with the hoods up. When they were all positioned they began their chant. As the minutes passed by and their chanting grew louder the weakened man in the center of their circle began to convulse as his life force was drawn from him.

Half an hour passed and the man was still struggling. He was much stronger than they had anticipated. Their voices rose in volume and the house trembled under the strain of the vibrations. Finally, after nearly an hour of pain, the man's body went limp and he drew his last breath of life.

The life force of the man lingered around the room. The Members stood stock still, basking in it. They felt the touch of life. Power surrounded them yet it was out of reach. They felt all of the energy that had come with the man, and it felt good.

The feeling was there for a few minutes and then the demon collected the energy into himself. When this was done each of the Members stood in a line before him. He placed his hands on their shoulders and bequeathed to them their equal share of the energy. The last member received his share and then they each took their places in the circle once more where they began the sealing chant.

Charlie had never felt more sick to his stomach. This was the second man he'd seen killed in this manner and when these people were done with their chanting they would remove the body from the house. Where they took them he had o idea, he just prayed that his body would never join them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

At seven o'clock that evening Deputy Williams stopped by the motel and dropped off Charlie and Alan's things. Carolee asked Don if he wanted any help with looking through them but he told her no. Now he wished that he hadn't.

Don wasn't normally a very emotional person. It came with the job description. If you're too emotional on the force you can't stay focused, and if you can't stay focused you're liable to get yourself or one of your men injured or killed. However, this wasn't just another case. This wasn't a manhunt. This was a search for his father and brother, and that changed everything.

As he looked through the various items that Charlie and Alan had brought with them on their road trip the backs of his eyes began to burn and he had to stop a moment to collect himself but it didn't work. The tears came and flowed freely down his cheeks try as he might to prevent them.

Don closed his eyes and said a silent prayer in his heart.

_Please don't take them. They're all I've got._

* * *

Sam sorted out the various papers, categorizing the articles by how legitimate they were to what he and Dean were looking for. The papers that had nothing to do with the kidnappings soon found their way to the waste bin and pretty soon there was a mountain of crumpled papers where the garbage bin used to be.

Sam stretched and let out a yawn. He'd been researching for the past two hours. He looked at his watch. Nine thirty, and Dean still wasn't back.

"He's got two more hours before I write it off as spending the night with that librarian," Sam said to himself. His eyes wandered to the paper his brother had been looking at. He picked it up and looked through it. There wasn't really anything out of the ordinary, and so he was rather confused by his brother's interest in it. And then he found an article that stood out.

**Cult Almost Kills Teenage Girl**

By Hanna Ester

Last night authorities received a report of a

cult ritual taking place in the woods just south

of town. The cult, whose name is still unknown,

apparently abducted the girl from her motel room

and took her to a predetermined location in the

woods. A sacrificial table along with other various

items used by the cult were there waiting for them.

As the girl was placed on the table, just as the

cult leader raised the blade to kill her, a friend of the

girl showed up, rescuing her from a terrible fate. The

rescuer and girl requested that their names not be

mentioned in this article, however they permitted us

to include information concerning their appearances

as well as their ages. The girl was sixteen with fiery

red hair while the friend was twenty-three with

short brunette hair.

Sam stared at the article. He checked the date on the paper again, did the math in his head and realized that at the time of the article Dean himself had actually been twenty-three. He read the description of the girl. Fiery red hair—the image of a young woman in her early twenties smiling at Sam in the motel parking lot popped into his mind.

"No way…"

A knock on the door made Sam jump slightly. He set the paper aside, picked up one of the guns and quietly walked to the door. The knock came again and he opened the door, keeping the gun hidden but in a position that he could use it quickly if needed.

"Hi," Carolee said smiling at him.

Sam let out his breath and opened the door. Carolee saw the gun in his hand.

"Thought I was someone coming to take you away?" she asked raising an eyebrow in amusement.

Sam looked down at the pistol in his hand and quickly set it down on one of the bedside tables. "You never can be too careful," he said, "especially with everything that's going on."

"I agree."

There was an awkward silence for a minute and then Sam asked, "Would you like to come in?"

"Thanks," Carolee said as she stepped into the room. She saw that Sam was alone. "Dean out getting food?"

"No," Sam said honestly. "He's…out."

"I know what Dean's like Sam you don't have to cover for him. He's out with a girl isn't he?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, he is."

Carolee nodded. Then she saw the papers on the bed. "Research?" she asked.

"Um, yeah," Sam said walking over and sitting beside the stacks of paper. "Dean and I went to the library and looked at the newspapers from the past ten years. We got copies of a few of them and I've just been sorting through all of the articles."

Carolee nodded once again and then her eyes caught sight of a familiar article. Sam followed her gaze and quickly hid the article beneath another stack of papers. Carolee looked at him seriously. "I know what you were looking at," she told him.

Sam didn't say anything. He figured that at this point the best thing to do would be to wait for her to say something.

Carolee walked over and pulled the article out from beneath the stack of papers. Sam thought about taking it back from her, but he decided not to. Instead he waited.

Memories flooded Carolee's mind as she read the paper. She opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and set the article back on the bed. Then she turned back to Sam. "So what have you and Dean found so far?" she asked pretending as though that had been the conversation the entire time.

Sam, a little taken aback at first, replied, "Well, about seven years ago a teenage boy named Jack Emeralds got drunk and killed a little girl. A few months later, after being sentenced to three months in prison and a year's probation, he was dragged from his house by seven men and they tried to lynch him but his mom called the cops and they showed up in time to stop it. The cops caught five of the guys and they said they were serving justice by trying to kill him."

"That's terrible."

"It is; we also found out that the first guy to disappear was one of the guys that tried to lynch Emeralds. There were a total of five disappearances with the first string of kidnappings, equal to the number of men caught by the police and charged with the attempted lynching of Jack Emeralds."

"Hmm…very interesting; any connections yet to the second stream of kidnappings?"

Sam shook his head. "None; I've been looking for the past few hours but nothing has come up." He paused and then added, "We can't figure out why Don's dad and brother were taken, but we think it's the same people responsible for the other kidnappings."

Carolee nodded in understanding. "You think this Emeralds guy is involved?"

"It would make sense; get revenge on the men who tried to kill him. But again, there's no connection to the new kidnappings."

Moving a few of the papers over Carolee took a seat on the bed beside Sam. "Well," she said. "Let's get searching then."

Sam stared at her blankly. Carolee laughed. "I did spend a little time with Dean, and you and I both know how…_fond_…he is of researching."

Sam smiled. He pointed at the papers she had just moved. "Get crackin'," he said and then the two of them began searching together.

* * *

Dean's eyelids were heavy. He tried to open them but something was preventing them. He must've been really tired; from what he could tell whatever he was sleeping on was hard as concrete. He tried to move his body into a more comfortable position but it was as though his entire body had been paralyzed and the only thing that would function was his brain.

His heart began to race. What was going on? Why couldn't he move? No matter how tired he'd been in the past he'd never felt like this.

Something was wrong and he didn't know what.

* * *

Sam wasn't any ordinary guy. His mother and father were both killed by a demon, he got a knife in his back (literally) and died only to be given a second chance through his brother's sell of his soul, and he hunted the supernatural. But these weren't the only out of the ordinary things about Sam's life. He also had visions.

At first he thought it was just a dream—he'd had nightmares about Dean before—but then he found that his senses were all intact with this "dream" whereas normally he would only think they were. The vision began with Sam finding himself against a wall with his hands tied together and raised above his head. He tasted blood in his mouth and his head ached.

Sam turned his line of sight to his right and found Dean bound in the same manner. Beside Dean was Carolee's friend Don and two men that Sam presumed were Don's father and brother. Carolee was no where in sight.

He looked towards the center of the room and saw a circle of people wearing blood red robes with their hoods up. One man stood in the center, his face was the only one not concealed. He had blue eyes that bore into Sam like a drill bit to wood, piercing and tearing away at his soul. While the man looked like an ordinary human being, Sam somehow knew he was a demon.

The demon was speaking but Sam didn't know what he was saying. He wanted to respond but realized that whatever was being said, it was directed towards his brother. The demon gave a signal to one of his men and the latter walked monotonously to Dean. He untied the ropes around Dean's wrists and then pushed him into the center of the circle. The demon knelt down and said something to Dean but once again the words did not register in Sam's mind and it angered him greatly.

Sam watched his brother and his heart began to sink. The look on his brother's face was that of defeat. He rarely had that look. The last time that Sam could recall Dean wearing it was when Dean was lying in a hospital bed just minutes after Sam had been told that Dean would die because of damage done to his heart.

Sam called out to his brother but before any response could be made the hooded figures began chanting in a strange unknown language. Dean was alright for a moment, and then he began to convulse as the chanting did something to him. What it was Sam didn't know. He watched in agony as his brother was tormented by whatever pain he was feeling. He closed his eyes blotting the image of his brothers writhing body from his mind. And then he heard an agonizing scream escape his brother's lips. A scream that he could not stop. A scream that Sam thought for sure could be heard by the world. A scream that soon ended.

Sam slowly opened his eyes and looked at the lifeless form of his brother.

"No…"he said as tears stung his eyes.

"NO!"

He awoke screaming that single word, body drenched in sweat and his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. Sam looked around the room. He was sitting on his bed at the motel, the research papers still surrounding him. His watch read three forty-six a.m. Dean's bed remained empty.

"Are you ok?"

Sam jumped slightly as he turned his head to the right. He strained his eyes trying to see through the darkness. He saw the form of a woman and was at first confused. And then he remembered.

Carolee had been looking through the papers with him. She'd dozed off on his shoulder. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes later that he had done the same.

"I just…" he began, not sure what to say.

Carolee got off of the bed and pulled back the curtain so that the moonlight would shine in. It wasn't much light but it was enough to see Sam. She sat beside him on the bed again and looked at him seriously.

"It was a nightmare about Dean wasn't it?" she asked.

"Not a nightmare, a…" Sam stopped. He was so used to telling Dean when he had visions that he completely forgot it wasn't his older brother he was talking to.

"A…?" Carolee asked.

"Nothing." And then a thought came to him. "How did you know it was about Dean?"

"I…heard you yell his name, just before you woke up."

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to wake you up."

Carolee smiled. "It's alright. To be honest my dream wasn't exactly the best either, so I'm rather glad you woke me up."

"Did you have a nightmare as well?"

"Yes, but I doubt it's the same kind of nightmare you had. Mine was more of a memory, only the outcome wasn't what really happened."

"I've had that."

They sat in awkward silence.

"I should probably get back to my room." She stood up and went to the door. She opened it and then stopped. "Thanks," she said with her back still to him.

"For what?" Sam asked.

Carolee turned and looked at him. "For trusting me; it took your brother a little bit of time to do that."

Sam smiled. "I still don't know a whole lot about you, but I'm getting a pretty good vibe, so that's good enough for me right now.'

Carolee nodded. "Well, goodnight."

"Night."

She left closing the door behind her. Sam looked back at Dean's bed. He shook his head. Would he ever stop? Sam had expected to be hunting more demons when that devil's gate had been opened just shortly after Dean sold his soul. Instead they had spent the last month like they were just two ordinary brothers on some road trip. Sam practically had to twist Dean's arm to get him to come to Emerson. It made Sam angry that Dean was acting like there was nothing wrong, and what was worse he wouldn't even let Sam try to find a way to help him.

There was a knock on the door and Sam got up to answer it. He opened it to find Carolee standing there.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Well…" Carolee began, twisting a little like a school girl about to tell a guy she was the one who wrote him the anonymous valentine. "I kind of…locked myself out of my room…"

Sam smiled. "Well, Dean's not back so you could probably crash in his bed until morning."

"Thanks."

Sam opened the door all the way for her and then closed it. The last time he'd shared a room with a girl was when he and Jess were dating, so it was slightly awkward to be in a similar situation once again. But he did his best to shrug it off.

"Goodnight," Carolee said as she lay down on Dean's bed and closed her eyes.

"Goodnight," Sam said. In a matter of seconds Carolee was asleep and Sam just stood there watching her. He squatted beside the bed and moved her beautiful red hair out of her face. It was soft as velvet.

Sam caught himself and put his hand back at his side. If his assumptions about Carolee and Dean were in fact true, he'd be better off not getting involved with the fiery red head. He stood, walked to his bed, cleared away the papers, and then plopped onto it and fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

At eight o'clock Don's alarm went off. He turned it off and climbed out of bed. The sun shone in through the thin curtains on the window and he stretched. He stood a moment as his brain tried to wake up and then he got himself dressed. Once he was ready he went outside and knocked on Carolee's door. He waited a few minutes and then knocked again. No answer. He tried a third time and when he still didn't get an answer he got on his cell phone and called her room. He heard the phone on the other side of the door ring about five times before he hung up his cell phone.

He walked out into the parking lot and looked around. His eyes fell on that door and he made up his mind to go knock on it. He crossed the lot, climbed the stairs and rapped at the door. There was the sound of someone moving around on the other side and then the door opened. Don stared at the person who answered.

Carolee stared at Don opened mouth. "Don," she said quite at a loss for words.

Don didn't know what to say. There was the sound of more movement inside the room and then Sam stood behind Carolee. The twenty four year old looked at Don with the same expression that Carolee had on her face.

"It's not how it looks," was the first thing Sam could think to say.

"And just how _does_ it look?" Don asked semi hotly.

Carolee rolled her eyes. "I came up here last night to talk to Sam and Dean. When I went back to my room I realized that I locked my keys in the room and it was too late to bother the manager. So Sam let me stay here because Dean was out somewhere."

"You could have come and asked me."

"Right; this coming from the guy who wanted to get separate rooms because it was too awkward for him."

"Well this is different."

"The only reason you think it's different is because you're trying to find a way to disprove my story."

"That is NOT true!"

"Then why the heck are you even arguing with me!?"

Don pursed his lips together and just stared at her. Sam felt extremely out of place. He didn't know if he should step up and say something or not. He finally decided to.

"Look I don't know Carolee half as well as you do," Sam began. "But from what I've been able to gather about her she's not the kind of girl to do what you think she's done."

"Well seeing as how you don't know her as well as I do you may want to stay out of this," Don retorted.

Carolee was at the end of her rope. She took a step towards Don and slapped him across the face. Sam and Don were absolutely blown away, Don especially. He was immediately contrite for overreacting. Carolee was too upset to say anything and so instead she simply walked past Don and went down the stairs. Sam waited a second or two and then followed after Carolee. Don stayed where he was. If his dad had been there he'd have gotten a royal reprimand.

Carolee's eyes burned as she stormed off towards her room. She remembered that it was locked and changed directions towards the street. Sam caught her as she hit the sidewalk and began to walk towards town.

"Carolee wait!" he said. He took her arm and she ripped it from his grasp.

"Leave me alone!" she exclaimed her eyes blurry with tears. But Sam wouldn't let up. He took a hold of her and put his arms around her. At first she tried to pull away and then she found a sweet comfort in his embrace and just cried.

"I'm sorry," Sam said as he held her. "It was my fault; I shouldn't have kept you up so late. If I hadn't you'd have been able to get your spare key from the manager before he went to bed."

Carolee shook her head. "I shouldn't have locked myself out in the first place," she said quietly. "The only thing you're guilty of is being nice enough to let me stay in your room with you."

Sam had no response and so he just simply held her. It'd seemed like forever since he last held someone this way. His eyes wandered around and fell on something that made his stomach churn.

Carolee felt Sam's body tense and she looked up at him. "What's wrong?" she asked. But Sam continued to stare and so she followed his gaze. Her stomach was prepared to regurgitate anything she'd eaten in the last 24 hours. She broke free of Sam's embrace and ran to the body lying by the side of the road.

Sam just stared after her in horror. When his senses came back he followed her lead and knelt beside the unconscious form of his brother.

"Dean?" Sam asked shaking him gently. From the looks of it he wasn't injured in anyway. "Dean!"

The older Winchester stirred and his eyes opened. He squinted as the morning sunlight cast itself into his eyes. He couldn't quite make out who it was that was leaning over him.

"Dean are you ok?" the person asked and Sam knew who it was.

"Sammy?" he asked. Carolee and Sam helped Dean to sit up and he looked around. The look on his face was that of absolute confusion. "Where am I?"

"You're about ten yards from the motel, lying in the gutter."

Dean's eyebrows knit together. "How'd I get here?"

"You were probably drinking a lot last night and just walked back here without knowing it."

Dean shook his head. "No, I wasn't drinking. Well, I had a drink or two but nothing to really get drunk off of."

Sam and Carolee looked at each other. "What do you remember?" Carolee asked.

"I was with Kristy," Dean began, "the librarian," he reminded Sam. "We had dinner and went to her place. Then…"

"I can guess what came next," Sam said cutting off his brother before he went into any details. "What happened after that?"

"She asked me a question."

"What question?"

Dean racked his brain trying to remember. "She asked what I was doing in Emerson."

Sam's heart rate picked up. "Did you tell her?"

Again Dean tried to remember, but all he got was a bunch of static. "I…I don't remember."

"Dean, if she knows why we're here that could cause a lot of problems for us. Are you sure…?"

"I don't remember alright!?" Just then Dean felt as though his skull were splitting open. He grabbed his head and rocked back and forth a bit. The pain was there for a little over a minute and then it was gone.

Carolee and Sam were silent. Neither one of them had a good feeling about any of this. And what was worse they had no way of knowing what Dean told that librarian. For all they knew she could tell them he was drunk and she kicked him out of her house.

"Let's get you into a bed," Sam said and he helped Dean to stand. Carolee supported him on the opposite side and they walked him back to the motel.

Don was now crossing the parking lot, headed towards where they had disappeared. When he saw that they were carrying assisting Dean he picked up the pace and jogged over to them.

"What happened?" he asked genuine concern written on his face.

"We're not sure," Sam said. "We're going to take him up to the room and let him get some sleep; maybe we'll be able to get more once he's rested up a bit."

Don nodded and walked with them until they got to the bottom of the stairs.

"I think Sammy and I can manage the rest of the way," Dean said removing his arm from around Carolee's shoulders. "Thanks," he told her.

"No problem," she said.

Dean and Sam began to make their way up the stairs and Carolee walked past Don without saying a word. He followed after her.

"Carolee wait," he said. She turned on her heel and stared at him with a cold expression on her face. He paused a moment and then said, "Look I'm sorry about earlier. I jumped to conclusions and it was wrong of me to do that. I should have believed you when you told me what happened and instead I just kept assuming."

"You shouldn't have jumped to any conclusions in the first place," she said. "You know me better than that." She turned and walked into the manager's office to get a spare key. She emerged just moments after, unlocked her room and then slammed the door behind her. Don stood there feeling like one of the biggest jerks in the world. He proceeded to his own room and slammed his own door.

"What's that all about?" Dean asked as he and Sammy stood by the railing in front of their room.

"Carolee came by and helped me with some research last night," Sam began. "When she went back to her room she realized that she'd locked her key in the room. It was too late to get the manager to give her a spare and so she came up here and I let her crash in your bed for the night. Don was looking for her this morning I guess and when he knocked on the door Carolee answered. You can imagine what it looked like to him."

"Yeah," Dean said. And then a strange emotion passed through him. Was it anger? No, there was nothing to be angry about really. Was it jealousy? Dean thought a moment. Why would he be jealous of his brother? No, that couldn't be it. Envy? What was there to be envious of? Carolee simply slept in another bed in the same room, not a big deal. "Well," he said. "Let's get me to bed, huh?" Sam opened the door and then helped Dean inside


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Andria Rossi had lived in Emerson for the last three years. Her parents were both born in Italy and two months after they got married they moved to the USA. A year after arriving they gave birth to Andi. Five years after Andi came Michael and then a year after him it was Ramona.

When Andi was nineteen her parents were killed in a car crash and she and her younger brother and sister moved in with their aunt. Andi went to school for two more years after that and was able to get a job as a personal secretary to the CEO of a major corporation in her hometown. The money was so good that Andi was able to move out of her Aunt's house with her younger siblings and rent a three bedroom apartment.

In January of Michael's Senior year Andi's boyfriend proposed to her and they were married in April. May came and was nearly over when Andi's husband became abusive and she divorced him. She wanted to move but decided to wait until Michael had graduated from high school and left for Stanford.

In June of that year Andi and Ramona moved to Chicago. Andi discovered that she was pregnant with her ex-husbands child. However she chose not to tell the father because she didn't want her child to get hurt the way she had been hurt.

In August, when Andi was two and a half months pregnant, she got into an accident. Michael flew out to see her and when he arrived he discovered that she had lost the baby. Andi was overcome with grief and so Michael dropped out of school to stay with her and Ramona. Andi and Michael had strained their relationship so much after a year that their sister was even getting fed up with Andi. So when the time came for a new semester at Stanford to begin both Ramona and Michael left. Andi lived in Chicago for another four years without any kind of contact with Ramona or Michael.

Finally Andi got sick of constantly being reminded of how much she screwed up. She packed her things and told all of her friends that she was moving to Emerson, a remote town out in the middle of nowhere. People asked if she had family there but she informed them that she wanted to get away. So she did.

Emerson had been exactly what Andi was looking for. Nobody bothered to ask her about her personal life before moving there, they all welcomed her into the community, everything was topsy turvy for the next three years.

And then she was kidnapped.

Andi was beyond pissed that everything was going so great for her and it had to be ruined by some idiot kidnapping her. She didn't' know who it was or why they had done it, they just did. Now she was sitting in some unknown darkened room all alone. Or so she thought.

"Is there someone there?"

Andi jumped at the man's voice.

"Who are you?" she asked looking around desperately.

"I'm Charlie Eppes. Who are you?"

"Andria Rossi, but you can call me Andi."

The two were silent.

"They took you too then?"

"Yes," Charlie said hugging his knees.

"How long?"

Charlie shook his head even though he knew Andi couldn't see him. "I don't know," he replied quietly.

"I just got here," Andi said and then realized how unnecessary the statement had been. Of course Charlie knew she'd just gotten there. "Was there anyone with you before?"

"My dad was taken too, but I haven't seen him since then. As far as I know we're the only ones."

"Do you have any idea why?"

"I do, but I'm not so sure you want to hear it."

Andi's heart began to race. She took a deep breath and said, "Please, tell me anyways."

Charlie hesitated. He didn't want to frighten Andi. It would be absolute torment to have to spend the next long while with a frightened woman. But he knew she was going to figure it out sooner or later, and so he may as well be the one to tell her. "The men that kidnapped us," he began. "It seems like they're some kind of a satanic cult." He swallowed hard. "I've seen them perform some kind of supernatural human sacrifices." The feeling in the room became tense and Charlie finished, "I think that's why they have us."

Andi leaned her head back against the wall. "Go figure," she muttered.

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked absolutely confused.

"Sorry," she said. "It's just that I'm prone to have bad luck. I lost my parents when I was in college and had to support my two younger siblings. I was married and then divorced almost immediately after due to the fact that my husband was abusive. I moved to Chicago with my sister, my brother was going to Stanford, and when we got there I found out that I had become pregnant by my ex-husband. Two and a half months into my pregnancy I was in a car accident and my baby died. My brother came back to take care of me but I'd become a very bitter person. Ramona and Michael got fed up with it and the day after Ramona graduated from high school she went to Stanford with Michael. I moved to Emerson and haven't heard from either of them since." She paused for breath. "So, my life is prone to bad luck."

Charlie felt sorry for Andi. He'd been through some rough times but she'd truly suffered. And then a question came to mind. "How old are you?" he asked.

"Twenty-seven," she replied. "And you?"

"Thirty-two."

_Only five years, _Andi thought and then she shook her head. _You just met the guy and from what he's told you you're going to die. No point in hoping for the impossible._

At Andi's silence Charlie began thinking. _If I had a means for actually figuring out some math I might be able to get us out of here and then we can make our way to a town or something and call Don. _Charlie stopped his thoughts. _This isn't just another FBI case Charlie. There's more to it than that. _

He sighed, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

_**_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._**_

Don knocked on Carolee's door. She opened it and upon seeing him glared.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions," he said. He looked down at the floor. "I shouldn't have."

Carolee looked down and finally decided to let go of her pride, just this once. "I'm sorry too. You were right I could have gone to you and I probably should've told you where I was."

"No," Don said. "You're an adult, I don't have to know where you are every second of every day. It would've been nice. To be honest you've kind of become that little sister I never had. I guess that's why I'm so protective about you."

Carolee looked up at him and smiled, touched by his comment. "Thanks," she said. "It really means a lot, especially since my own family has kind of disowned me."

They stood there in a kind of awkward silence.

"So…"

"How's Dean?" Don asked.

"I'm not sure; I haven't talked to him or Sam. I was thinking of going to their room and checking on them."

"Would you mind if I came along?"

Carolee smiled. "Not at all."

Carolee knocked on the door once they had climbed to the top of the stairs. She heard someone on the other side and then the door opened and Sam stood there.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," Carolee replied.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Don said.

"That's alright," Sam told him.

"How is Dean?" Carolee asked.

"He's still sleeping."

"So you haven't been able to ask him more about what happened?"

"No."

"Well, when he wakes up let us know, ok?"

"I will."

She turned to Don," I'd like to go into town and do some more looking; maybe talk to Sheriff Williams again."

"That's fine with me," Don said.

"Can I come with you?" Sam asked. "There's some research of my own that I want to do."

"What about Dean?"

"I'll leave him a note and tell him to call my cell when he wakes up. Then I'll get a hold of you two and let you know."

"You'll need one of our cell numbers to do that."

Sam pulled out his phone. He pressed a few buttons and then said," Go for it."

Carolee rattled off her number and Sam saved it into his phone. She smiled. "Alright, I guess you can come."

__._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._ _"I'm sorry; there aren't any more leads."

Don gave the Deputy a nod. "Is Sheriff Williams here?"

"No, he's out making a house call. I'll let him know that you want to talk to him though."

"Thanks."

Don walked outside and found Carolee sitting on the curb playing with her phone.

"No leads and Sheriff Williams is out."

Carolee sighed. "No leads." _At least none that we personally have found. I wish I could help Sam with his research._ A thought came to Carolee's mind.

"I wonder if we could get information from people easier by splitting up." Don looked at her. "I mean, in a small town two strangers asking questions can be intimidating. Maybe people will be more willing if it's just one of us."

Don knew there was more to Carolee's request than she was making out, but he didn't want to upset her again. "Well, if makes sense. Are you sure you want to split up?"

"I'm sure."

"Alright then; you take the south end and I'll take the north end. We'll meet at the diner at seven, alright?"

"Sounds great, I'll see you then."

And so they split up. Sam had mentioned going to City Hall to try and get some records on Jack Emeralds. Luckily for Carolee, City Hall just happened to be on the south side of the town.

She hurried towards the large Victorian style building, hoping that Sam hadn't left yet. It came into view and Carolee picked up the pace. Upon arriving she nodded in thanks to a man who held the door for her and then went inside.

The floors were white marbled and the walls were all made of stone, which made the building hard to heat in the colder seasons. There were beautiful paintings on the wall, most of them dealing with Emerson's history, and the windows were almost as tall as the walls. It was truly a magnificent building and Carolee was always filled with awe whenever she stepped inside.

She made her way to the receptionist desk and upon finding it she breathed a sigh of relief. Sam was standing there, obviously having a difficult time with the receptionist. Carolee strolled over.

"Well," she said. Sam turned and looked at her. "Hello Sam."

"Where's Don?" he asked.

"North side of town. We're meeting at the diner around seven." She turned her attention to the receptionist and smiled. "Hello, I'm Carolee Summers," she said holding out her hand to the aged woman behind the desk.

"Amy Fergusson," she said looking Carolee over. "I've seen you before."

"Yes, I was in Emerson about five years ago. Actually, I was hoping to talk to Hanna Ester."

"Miss. Ester is busy at the moment, but…"

"Could you just call her office and see if she couldn't squeeze me in?"

"As I already told you Miss. Summers, she is busy."

Carolee reached over and picked up the receiver of the phone. "It's as easy as dialing a few numbers putting the receiver to your ear and listening for the ringing to stop and for her to say hello."

Mrs. Fergusson seemed very put out but she took the phone from Carolee just the same and began dialing. Carolee smiled. "Thank you," she said pleasantly and then turned to Sam. He was in complete awe.

"What?" she asked in perfect innocence.

"You amaze me," he said. "I couldn't even get a penny's worth of information out of her."

"And I think I'll continue to amaze you Sam Winchester. I've yet to stop amazing your brother."

Mrs. Fergusson got her attention.

"Did she pick up?" Carolee asked.

"No, it's her answering machine. She _always_ let's the machine pick up when she's too busy to answer herself."

"Well then just leave her a message and tell her that Carolee Summers is here with a friend and would very much like to see her."

The annoyed Mrs. Fergusson conveyed Carolee's message to the answering machine and not even a full minute after hanging up the receiver it began to ring again. She picked it up, said a few things and then hung it up again.

"She's expecting you," Mrs. Fergusson said. Carolee smiled as the disgruntled receptionist handed both her and Sam a visitors pass and directed them to the elevators.

"I take it you and this Hanna Ester are friends," Sam said.

"Well, as you already know, she's the one that wrote that article about Jack Emeralds. She's also the one who wrote the article you were reading last night."

"So the girl _was_ you."

Carolee simply smiled.

"And was the guy that saved you my brother?"

Carolee nodded.

"What happened?"

Carolee stared at the floor of the elevator. "I left your brother the night of my 16th birthday. We'd been together for about two months by then. I wrote a note explaining why I was leaving and told him not to come after me. Well, he didn't respect my wishes on that matter and came after me. It was lucky for me that he did or else I probably wouldn't be here telling you about it."

"Why did you leave?"

The elevator doors opened and Carolee smiled at him. "That's a story for another day I think."

They stepped out of the elevator and Carolee led him to Hanna's office. She knocked on the door.

"Come in," they heard on the other side.

Carolee opened the door and the two of them entered. A woman, about thirty years old Sam guessed, was sitting behind a desk with a stack of files in front of her. She had black square framed glasses and brunette hair that came down to her mid back. Her face was round and her eyes were a beautiful dark green. While she was not excessively over weight, she was not skinny either. She was dressed in a black v-neck shirt with long flared sleeves that came just past her wrists.

Hanna smiled at Carolee and stood.

"Carolee," she said walking around her desk and taking the younger ones hand. "It's been a while."

"Yes it has," Carolee said. "How has your journalist career been?"

"Grand as usual; I was offered a job as the senior editor but I declined. I'd much rather be the one writing the stories and getting all of the information."

"Wait, the newspaper offices are right here in City Hall?" Sam asked.

"Well there's only one paper in Emerson and it's cheaper just to use one building for two purposes. The printing press is in the basement. When this building was first built all that was down there were the boilers. But, as time passed and heating devices grew smaller more room became available down there and so _The Informer's_ printing office was moved down there. Eventually the paper was allowed to use some of the unoccupied rooms as offices and that's how it's been for the last fifty years."

"Interesting. What else is here in the building?"

"Well we have all of the legislative offices on the first floor, the law enforcement offices on the second, and the newspaper offices here on the third. There's also a courtroom on the second floor as well. The first townspeople of Emerson thought it more convenient, not to mention it was less time consuming, as opposed to building an actual courthouse. If you look out that window behind my desk you'll see an old abandoned building. It used to be the jail until it was moved just outside of town."

Sam walked over to the window and looked out. There it was the original Emerson jail. It reminded Sam of an old western movie even in its shabby state. The door was hanging by the top hinge and one of the two front windows had been broken out. The roof that hung out above the boardwalk was drooping with age.

"Why hasn't anyone tried to fix it up?" Sam asked.

"They think it's haunted," Hanna said. "About three months after the town had been finished, back in 1850, a man from out of town came to Emerson. No one had ever seen him before but Emerson has always been a very accepting community. They allowed him a plot of land and everything. But then things began happening. People began disappearing, just like now, livestock began to get sick and die from some unknown poison, and some of the local young ladies had been found dead. The evidence all pointed to the new comer and so the sheriff arrested him. He was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging."

"Was there ever any evidence to contradict the verdict?" Carolee asked.

"No. To this day there is no evidence to hint that the verdict was cast upon the wrong man. But there's more to the story."

"What?"

"The sheriff was the one who not only gave the sentence but carried it out as well. Two months after the stranger had been killed the sheriff was found dead; hanged by the same rope and in the same place as that stranger."

"Did they ever find out who did it?"

"There was no evidence. None of the townspeople had a grudge against the sheriff; in fact he and his wife had been going to their homes regularly for dinner the first month after they executed that man. There had been a hoedown that night the sheriff was murdered, and everyone was there and accounted for. The only one who ever left was the sheriff, and nobody had even noticed until it was over and his wife couldn't find him. They began to search and found him already dead."

"That's terrible," Sam said.

"It is."

"Where had the hangings taken place?"

"Out back of the jail; there's an old oak tree that they used because the gallows hadn't been completed yet."

Sam looked back out the window and spotted the tree. Staring at it gave him the chills and he turned his attention back to Hanna and Carolee.

"What was the sheriff's name?" Sam asked.

"Emeralds."

Carolee and Sam stared at her wide eyed. "Emeralds?" they asked.

"Yes; and I know what you're thinking. He _is_ an ancestor of Jack Emeralds, the one that was involved with that DUI accident where the young girl was killed. The sheriff's wife was eight months pregnant when her husband was murdered. She was thankful that she gave birth to a boy so that he could carry on his father's name. When young Harry Emeralds was nine his mother remarried, however she refused to let Harry change his last name to that of her new husband's. At first Harry protested, but after being told all of the great stories about his dad, and then what happened to him, he consented to keep his last name.

"It's been said that on that day Harry vowed he would never stop searching for his father's murderer. That vow has been passed from father to son for one and a half centuries."

Sam and Carolee looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. _Maybe that's the connection to the other kidnappings._

"It's terrible to think that those five idiots were cruel enough to attempt to have Jack face the same fate as his father and at the same place too."

"Wait," Sam said confused. "The same place? Your article said that it took place just outside of his home."

"That's a story in and of itself. You see, when I first got the story I told about how it was with the same tree that his father had been murdered at and I had a whole theory on the reasoning behind it. However when my editor read it he told me to change it and leave out my theory as well as where it really happened."

"Why?"

"About three quarters of the people that are living in Emerson today are direct descendants of the original inhabitants. They're all superstitious about that tree, especially now with all of these disappearances happening again."

"So you lied in your article?"

"It was the first and last article that I ever told anything but the truth in one of my stories. And I was absolutely disgusted with myself. Some people were talking about how terrible it was that the men had tried to lynch Jack Emeralds, and then there were some that agreed with what they did. I was half tempted to tell them the whole truth and ask them where the justice was in that and tell them how sick and twisted they were to do it."

"I'm curious," Carolee said. "What was the name of that man that was hanged two months before the sheriff?"

"Frank Gershin," Hanna replied.

Carolee looked down in thought.

"Is everything alright?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, the name just sounds familiar. I can't think of where I heard it from."

"Hmm." Hanna looked at Sam as though she'd just noticed him. "Where are my manners?" She held her hand out to him. "I'm Hanna Ester. And you are?"

"Sam Winchester," Sam said shaking her hand.

"Winchester?" Hanna looked at Carolee. "You wouldn't happen to be related to a _Dean_ Winchester would you?"

"He's my older brother actually."

"I see; and are you here alone?"

"No, my brother is here in Emerson too. He's just back at the motel sleeping."

Hanna nodded and then looked at Carolee. "There's something I need to show you."

She walked over to a painting that was hanging on the wall. She pulled it away to reveal a hidden safe. After putting in the combination and opening it, she pulled out what looked like some old documents. They appeared to be from either the late 1800's or the early 1900's. She sat down at her desk placing the papers on top of whatever research she'd been working on.

The papers reminded Sam of his dad's journal with all of the information about demons.

"I keep these papers hidden because of the superstitious people here." At Sam's confused look she said, "I'm aware of the supernatural Mr. Winchester, however I'm not one to go hunting them like your brother. These were given to me by an old friend. When he discovered my fascination with the supernatural he invited me over to his house and while I was there he handed me these papers." She ruffled through some of them and, upon finding what she was looking for, handed them to Carolee. "Read it out loud," she said.

Carolee took the papers from Hanna and read:

_ "It has been discovered that a newly found demon is not so new after all. Tracing back the facts we have discovered that he in fact came into existence either in the late 1700's or the early 1800's. While his origins are unknown, the trail shows that he ended up in the United States._

_ "Upon receiving this information we did some further digging and discovered that a certain mystery in a small town called Emerson fits the demon's quota."_

Carolee looked up at Hanna.

"A _demon?_ You think it was a demon?"

"Keep reading," Hanna said.

_ "Among other things the aforementioned demon is known to use black magic to kill livestock and has been the cause of many disappearances. He's also very popular with the ladies."_

Chills ran up and down Carolee's spine.

_ "The demon's location is unknown at this point in time. However there have been whisperings of his presence in Russia, Europe, and Africa. Alas, we have not the resources nor the means of following these rumors."_

Carolee set the papers down.

"It sounds like this whole thing, Frank Gershin, the sheriff's murder, and these strings of disappearances, are all linked to this demon," Hanna said.

"What's the demon's name?" Sam asked.

"I doubt you would know it. He has been written off as just a figment of some demon hunters imagination. There's not a demon hunter alive now that believes he really existed. The story was believed to have been concocted by the combination of many demons into one solitary demon."

"The name?"

"Kirdahz."

Carolee's blood went cold. She began to feel lightheaded and her stomach was churning.

"Carolee," Sam said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine," she said. "I just suddenly felt really sick."

"I'll take you back to the motel." He helped Carolee to stand and then shook Hanna's hand. "Thank you."

"It was my pleasure." Before they left the office Hanna called to their attention once more. She walked over and handed the papers to Sam. "For you and your brother to keep; I won't need them."

"What about your fascination with the supernatural?" Sam asked.

"Oh, I have those papers memorized forwards and backwards I've read them so many times. Besides, I tire of having that knowledge constantly looming over me as it sits in a locked safe. Not to mention I don't mind getting rid of any risk that the papers might be discovered by this superstitious town."

"Again, thank you," Sam said, and then he and Carolee left the building.


	7. Chapter 7

Numb3rs Meets Supernatural…

**Chapter 7**

"Are you sure you're alright?" Sam asked as he and Carolee exited the building.

"I'm fine, really," Carolee told him.

Sam didn't buy it. "Come on Carolee," he said. "You were fine until she mentioned the demon's name, now what's going on?"

Carolee knew she wouldn't be able to avoid it. "I'll tell you, but not here," she said.

"Where were you supposed to meet Don?"

"The diner at seven."

Sam looked at his watch. It was five o'clock. "Alright," he said, "We'll go to the diner and you can tell me while we wait for him."

"No, the diner has too many people."

"Then where do you suggest we go?"

Carolee thought about it. The motel would put it too close to Dean, and anywhere else in town just wouldn't give enough privacy. And then a place came to mind. She looked at Sam. "Care for a little outing in the woods?"

He looked down in thought. "Well," he said. "If Dean found out he'd probably give me the third degree and tell me how irresponsible and stupid it was for me to 'wander off'."

"So we don't let him find out then; besides it'd be easier for me to tell you if we did."

"Easier? How?"

She took his hand. "Come on; we've only got two hours."

They walked for about ten minutes before reaching the edge of the woods. Carolee found the familiar path and led Sam down it. The forest, despite the time of day, was extremely dark and it gave Sam the chills. After following the path for about twenty minutes Carolee turned off of it and went into some bushes. Sam hesitantly followed behind. What he found on the other side was a clearing big enough to hold a bon fire party for a moderate group of people. Carolee was sitting on a large stone near the middle. She patted the rock beside her. "Have a seat," she told him.

Sam walked over and sat down. "What's going on?" he asked. "And where are we?"

"This is where Dean found me after I left," Carolee said. Sam remembered the article that Hanna Ester had written and he looked around.

"Well it's certainly creepy enough for a sacrificial ritual," he replied.

"But this isn't where we met, as I've told you." She took a breath, and continued, "When I was almost sixteen years old my father and I got into an argument; a very _heated_ argument. As a result I left home. Miles outside of my hometown I ran into your brother. I was trying to hitch a ride and I guess he felt sorry for me. He offered to take me to the next town and help me get to wherever I was going. I told him that I really didn't have any where to go, that I was just going to travel around the country."

"What did he say?"

"Well he didn't invite me along with him if that's what you're wondering. No, he just said that whatever I decided to do we'd part companies in the next town. I didn't really care; to me he was just a guy that was giving me a ride.

"But when we got into that town we found out that a demon had been plaguing the townspeople. Of course, neither Dean or I actually admitted that we knew it was a demon at fault for the killings and such, but we knew. Anyways, that first night we stayed at the motel—there was only one—and as I was trying to get to sleep the demon showed up. Dean, who was having a hard time sleeping that night, saw him go into my room. He barged in only to find that I had just about finished him off myself. Needless to say he was rather shocked."

"I'll bet," Sam said with a laugh. "Then what happened?"

"He asked if I wanted to come along with him for a little while until I could get a chance to go out on my own. I agreed, and so we began our travels together."

"Where was my dad?"

"I'm not sure; Dean didn't say. He mentioned that your dad was a hunter too, but that was about it. I thought about asking, I just never got up the courage I guess."

"Hmm…" This was slightly mind boggling to Sam. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and asked, "So why did you leave after two months?"

Carolee looked down at her hands a moment. The peak of the story, the reason she had brought Sam to this place had finally come. "I got a message from someone," she began, "informing me that a past acquaintance was looking for me. It was a bit of a shock I'll admit; I thought this person had given up on trying to get me. I left to keep Dean safe from him."

"From who?"

A pause, and then she said, "Kirdahz."

Sam rocked back a little. "He's not a myth?" he asked quietly.

Carolee shook her head. "I've met him personally. I don't know a whole lot about him, but I do know that for centuries he's been experimenting with black magic, experimenting on ways to overcome mortality and trying it out on humans as well."

"He wanted you for an experiment?"

"I think so; he never was very clear on that. He was quite powerful though, and I knew that even though Dean had experience there was no way he could face him and live. So I left and began to make my way back towards Emerson. My messenger had informed me that Kirdahz was there waiting for me, but when I got there he was nowhere to be found. I was caught by that stupid cult and they took me here."

"What kind of a ritual were they trying to do exactly?"

"I don't know, it was one that I didn't recognize. About halfway through it though Dean showed up and stopped them. A passerby heard the commotion and called the sheriff." She shrugged. "I spent the next four months with your brother, and then we finally parted ways."

"Why?"

"My mother got sick and was expected to live for very long. I left to go spend her last moments with her and Dean went back to your dad as far as I know."

"I see."

They sat in silence for a moment and then Carolee looked down at her watch. "We'd better hurry if we're going to meet Don at the diner."

Sam nodded. The two stood and went back to the path. Upon reaching it they found a little girl with pigtails and a pink bicycle blocking the way. Her empty blue eyes seemed to hold them where they stood. Sam remembered her from their first night in Emerson.

"Who are you?" he asked but the little girl did not respond. A dark feeling began to creep for the forest and Sam took a step in front of Carolee, shielding her from the freaky little girl. The child's eyes snapped to Carolee, staring at her with more intensity than Carolee could ever remember. She began to raise her hand and as she did both Carolee and Sam began to feel engulfed in the darkness that had taken Dean on that first night.

Carolee's mind found it's way back to the fight she had with her father, to her mother's death and every other painful memory she had. She felt the pain of all the injuries she'd ever received. The pain caused her to fall to her knees. She looked and saw that Sam too was on the ground, writhing in pain. She reached out and took his hand. While it was a small gesture it provided both with a great comfort.

_Help me…_

The plea came into Carolee's mind and she looked at the girl in surprise. Those empty eyes were pleading with her, begging for her help.

_How?_ Carolee asked. But before the girl could respond she vanished. The sound of someone running towards them caused both Sam and Carolee to slowly stand. They looked and found Dean and Don coming towards them. Carolee looked at her watch. It was nearly eight o'clock. Had the pain really lasted that long?

"You guys alright?" Dean asked. Carolee could see a mixture of worry, confusion, and anger in his eyes.

"We're fine," Sam said.

The worry left Dean's eyes. "What are guys doing out here?"

There was his confusion.

"We were talking."

Now for the anger.

"What were you thinking Sammy!? You know what's been going on and you deliberately ran off into one of the most dangerous parts of town! Are you crazy!?"

"It wasn't his fault Dean, it was mine!" Carolee exclaimed. "I led him out here so that I could tell him about…" She stopped.

Dean didn't need her to finish the sentence. His eyes looked to the bushes that hid the place where Carolee had nearly been sacrificed five years ago.

"Is there something I should know about?" Don asked looking back and forth between Dean and Carolee.

"_You_ should've known better than to come out here as well," Dean told Carolee.

"I _can _take care of myself Dean, in case you've forgotten."

"In case _you've_ forgotten Miss. Summers people have been disappearing left and right in this town! I don't care how much experience you've had or how well you can take care of yourself; it's just plain _stupid_ to go wandering off!"

"_If_ we had run into any trouble, which we didn't, we could have taken care of it!"

"Didn't run into trouble huh? So that freaky demon child wasn't bothering you at all? Well I guess I should've just stayed back and not bothered then!"

"You are one of the most difficult men I have ever met in my entire life Dean Winchester! You're so eager to throw yourself into danger but when someone else does it you get on their case about it!"

"I put myself into danger because I have to, it's what I do! I help people when I risk my life. _This_ was just stupid!"

Carolee wanted to argue the point further but decided not to. She didn't want to say something that she would regret. She walked past Dean and began the walk back to the motel. Don stood there a moment and then followed after her.

"Dean," Sam began but he was cut off.

"I don't' want to talk about it Sammy," Dean said and then he turned and started to walk back with Sam on his heels.

* * *

Alan was alone again. Roger had been taken and never returned. His hopes of survival were beginning to dwindle and he found himself praying for his death rather than help; at that point anything was better than being locked up in that dark room any longer.

Just then the door opened and one of the freaky men in the blood red cloaks came in.

"Get up," he ordered. Alan did so without complaint. The man escorted him to what Alan assumed was once a living room. Upon arriving Alan found Charlie tied up against one of the walls.

"Charlie!" he exclaimed and hurried over to him.

"Dad!" Charlie replied hugging his father tightly.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, little shaken up but I'm fine. You?"

"Good now that I know you're alright."

The leader of the cult entered the room. His hood was up and so neither Charlie nor Alan could see who it was. He turned his head in their direction and then to the man who had brought Alan in.

"What did I tell you!?" he said fiercely. "I said that they were not to be touched!"

"But sir, we've no one else to perform the ritual on, and…"

The leader took the other by the front of the robes and lifted him off the ground slightly. "The other Epps is still looking for them you idiot! Until he give sup on the search we do nothing, is that clear!?"

"Why wait!? Why not kill them and then say that you found them in the woods!?"

"Because in order to keep him from digging we have to produce a cause of death you moron! We also have to produce an autopsy and a whole case behind their murders! We do nothing until he leaves—it will buy us enough time to make it convincing and keep him away."

Charlie and Alan looked at each other. Don was there in Emerson. Whatever hope they had lost was restored now that they had this new information.

"So then what do we do with them?"

"Lock them away like you've been doing. Put them both in the cellar this time though—I don't want them sending a little message to their dear brother and son."

Two men walked over to Charlie and Alan. They took them by the arm and led them away. When they were gone another of the lesser members asked, "What are we supposed to do while we wait for him to give up then? We've used up all of our people besides those two."

There was a pause as the cult master thought. "I know someone we can use. They've been asking too many questions in town and their getting too close to what we're doing."


End file.
